Quote:
Originally Posted by Twitch
The American acess I have known based in the Med had pretty terse comments on the Italians' fighting ability. "Their being in the air was usually a non-event. We had no problems with them."
And, "They'd see us and do aerobatics, then we'd shoot them down."
I'll leave those comments as is adding that while they sound rather confident, this is how the Itals were perceived.  |
Regia Aeronautica always had problems with supplies and maintenance, problems that only increased with the use of several different types of fighters, for instance. Their operational rate was quite smaller then that of the Luftwaffe.
The italian air force doctrine was heavily based on aerobatics. This comes from the late 20's, by influence of Rino Corso Fougier (future Generale di Squadra Aerea and commander-in-chief of Regia Aeronautica). So, italian fighter pilots were used to (e.g.) make a perfect loop rather than a tight combat turn. That's also why their aircraft took manouverability above all other qualities such as armament and speed.